by Catalina Camia, USA TODAY

by Catalina Camia, USA TODAY

"They're precisely the same people who are unwilling to cut the spending and their 'gimme, gimme, gimme' -- give me all my (Superstorm) Sandy money now," Paul, R-Ky., said Sunday in Nashville. "Those are the people who are bankrupting the government and not letting enough money be left over for national defense."

You'll recall that Christie -- who like Paul is mentioned as a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate -- was upset earlier this year when Congress delayed federal aid for victims of the deadly superstorm that ravaged his state.

This spat began when Christie noted last week that there is a "strain of libertarianism" in both parties representing "a very dangerous thought" when it comes to opposition from Paul and others to the NSA's warrantless surveillance efforts and similar programs aimed at fighting terrorism.

Asked if he was speaking specifically about Paul, Christie said, "You can name any number of people and he's one of them." Christie, a federal prosecutor at the time of the 9/11 attacks, went on to say that opponents of these techniques should "come to New Jersey and sit across from the widows and the orphans and have that conversation."

As for the fight he appears to be having with the New Jersey governor, Paul is quoted by the Associated Press that he didn't start it. "But if they want to make me the target, they will get it back in spades," the senator said.